Jameis Winston Talks His Buccaneers’ Preparation As Well as His Own
Jameis Winston is maturing right in front of Buccaneers’ fans eyes. Listening to him talk about preparation makes his growth as clear as day.
There were a lot of questions asked when the Buccaneers chose Jameis Winston with the first pick of the 2015 draft. He was touted as the most “pro-ready” quarterback, but nobody really knows whether that is true until the player takes the field. And then there were the character questions. Many thought he wouldn’t be able to behave well enough to represent the Bucs.
We all breathed a sigh of relief to find out that the naysayers were wrong.
As far as on the field, Winston exceeded expectations, becoming one of three rookie quarterbacks in NFL history to pass for over 4,000 yards. He had some ups and downs with taking care of the football, but all rookie quarterbacks do. His overall play was solid, and more importantly, improved as the year went along.
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Just as important is the fact that he behaved like a franchise quarterback. Instead of using his new-found fame to be a man about the town, he took to the role of face of the franchise. He took the bull by the horns and became a leader. That maturity has continued into training camp 2016.
It’s all about preparation at this point as we all know. On the first day of camp, Winston talked about what he saw from his teammates:
"“Got to get better. First day is always an exciting day. It’s exciting because we have these fans out here, all these kids out here running around, and it always feels good to put on a show in front of the fans. So we’re excited but we know that we got a long way to go, we know that we have to continue to get better, but I’m looking forward to getting better with this group of guys.”"
See? Not only does he talk about his teammates getting better, he talks about himself getting better. A leader understands that the group has to grow together. It’s not about the individuals, it’s about the collective.
Jameis went on to talk more about what he needs to improve:
"“Well, everything in my game. I don’t believe that right now is the time for me to just focus on one thing. We have a long time until the season. I have to get better at everything from footwork to keep maintaining my body, staying in shape, pocket presence, there’s a lot of things that I have to do to get better. And I’m going to keep getting better my whole career – it’s not just from year one to year two, it’s a whole-life thing.”"
And he knows his footwork had to get better. He believes that it has:
"“Absolutely. I feel like I made a lot of strides in everything that I did. That was the purpose for me in my offseason, was to get better in every way that I can. I feel like I did, but it’s never too bad to keep getting better, so I’ve got to continue to get better. I’m nowhere near where I need to be and I’m never going to be where I need to be.”"
Leaders have to set an example. It’s not only about being able to command the huddle, a leader has to be able to show his teammates how to work. When their leader is open about how he needs to get better, other guys will follow and grind just as hard as he does.
I’m going to keep getting better my whole career…it’s a whole-life thing.
He reiterates that point when talking about mental preparation:
"“Well, you do everything that you need to do. You do everything that any good quarterback would do. That’s work hard, and let these guys see you working hard.”"
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Bucs’ fans, be thrilled that Winston is on your side. Franchise quarterbacks don’t come around every day. Ask any New York Jets’ fan for all of the proof you need. Winston will be the guy to take the Bucs to the next level. Why? Because he is a leader, and understands what it takes to win.